Midnight Mass
by cannon
Summary: The team gathers in the middle of the night to watch a peculiar ceremony take place.


I woke to feel a hand on my chest. Before I could say anything, Jack shushed me. I tried to focus, squinting up at him while fumbling for my glasses with my free hand. "Quietly. Come on," he said. He then turned and slipped out of the tent. I put my glasses on and found my boots, pulling them on as I tried to exit my tent as quietly as possible. My watch said it was just past three in the morning, but that was just a rough estimate; the days on this world were approximately 27 hours long, which screwed up sunrise, sunset and time changes.  
  
Just to the east of the camp, there was a steep rise that blocked the rest of the trip down the mountain. It also created the level area where we'd set up camp for the night. Jack was perched on the edge of this incline, peering down towards the valley that contained the Stargate. He was in his full uniform, holding his P-90 against his chest. The light from the full moon, plus the odd clouds Sam had admired during the day, cast a powerful blue hue on everything. I scrambled up the rise, kneeling next to him and following his gaze.  
  
He motioned with his chin down the valley and I searched the shadows. I could see the Stargate; visible, but still a few hours away by foot. The valley looked clear, abandoned. I was about to ask for a little help when I spotted it. Shadows moving in the trees. At first, I thought there was just one form, but then I started to see the others. Three here, four there... at least a dozen that I could see. "They've been moving for about half an hour," Jack informed me in a whisper.  
  
I didn't say a thing, settling face-down on the rise and watched as the figures began to slip from the trees. They were all draped in white gowns, tinted blue just as Jack's uniform and face had been. Instead of milling about, they formed four lines and began a procession towards the Stargate. Four rows of people, each growing longer as more appeared from the trees.  
  
Jack turned suddenly, tensing and looking down towards camp. I followed his gaze and saw Samantha Carter standing outside her tent, looking confused until she spotted us on the rise. Jack held a hand up in a shushing gesture, then motioned her up. As she climbed, I noticed she was barefoot and jacket-less. It felt odd seeing her so out-of-uniform, almost like I was spying on her in her pajamas.  
  
She sat next to me, staring down and frowning at the procession of blue-white robes. She hugged herself against the cold of the night, moving her right foot to cover the left. The procession of robes reached the Stargate and stopped, each row now a steady... I counted... a steady 24-people strong. One man separated himself from the rest, moving to the DHD as the others stood absolutely stock-still. He dialed the Stargate, reverently hitting each glyph as if it was embued with deeper meaning. The Stargate came to life, brightening the blue dye that had drenched the world.  
  
The dialer turned back to his followers and they all dropped to one knee. I glanced at my watch. It was 3:10, which meant the Stargate would remain open until 3:48am. There was a shuffle behind us and we all turned, seeing Teal'c approaching from the woods. He climbed up, kneeling next to Jack on the opposite side from me and Sam. "They do not appear human," he reported in a hurried whisper. "They are not carrying weapons, nor do they seem to be a threat."  
  
"Take your word for it there, Teal'c," Jack said.  
  
The apparent leader of the group moved down the front of the four rows, handing each person something from a huge pouch. When all four had been served, they stood as one and walked single-file into the Stargate. The entire 'congregation,' for lack of a better word, stood and moved up one place. The leader then repeated his move and the four stood and walked into the Stargate. They continued to do this, moving slowly, until fifteen rows (sixty followers) had disappeared through the Stargate.  
  
At 3:47, I checked my watch. Sam noticed the move and said, "It's about to shut down."  
  
I nodded.  
  
The leader gave whatever he was holding to the next row. They stood, eating what they'd been given, and started towards the Gate in a single-file line. Just before the first man disappeared, the Stargate disconnected. The leader turned. The four who hadn't made their way through the event horizon stood still, staring at the immobile ring.  
  
The remaining robes (just over thirty remained) stood and turned around where they were, returning to the woods they had exited a half hour earlier. The leader brought up the rear. The four who had been blessed and had missed the Stargate turned and began walking in the opposite direction. The white robes disappeared into the darkness, first becoming the vague flickering movements that Jack had first seen, then disappearing all together.  
  
Below, the valley hosting the Stargate seemed to have fallen asleep again.  
  
Sam and I both stood, Teal'c following our lead. "Watch?" Sam asked.  
  
"I got it until dawn," Jack said quietly. "You guys can rest."  
  
We headed down the rise, returning to the tents. As Sam and Teal'c slid into their tent, I looked up at Jack, still perched on the rise. He was watching the valley, as if waiting for someone to return to explain the ritual we'd just witnessed. I climbed into the tent and laid down on top of my sleeping bag, boots and glasses still on. We'd gone through the Stargate so many times, met so many 'former' religions based around the stone device, that we'd all but forgotten that it was a holy relic to some. It was... bizarre and fascinating to witness it first hand, but I couldn't blame Jack for wanting to know more.  
  
Where had those people traveled? What had they been fed? What happened to the four who didn't make it? I drifted off, the questions dancing through my brain, searching for answers I knew I'd never find.  
  
---  
  
I moved towards the woods, brushing my boots through the tall grass. There was no evidence of what had taken place here only twelve hours ago. The ground was too hard to leave footprints and the white-robes hadn't left behind any litter. I gave up looking for evidence and returned to the team, who had amassed around the DHD as Sam stood behind it, prepared to dial.  
  
Jack walked up behind her, watching as she traced her finger around the point-of-origin glyph for this particular world. "Problem, Carter?"  
  
"No, Sir," she said, beginning to dial. "It's just... after last night, it feels kind of..."  
  
"Sacrilegious," I said.  
  
"Right," Sam nodded. She shrugged. "It seems kind of silly, doesn't it?" she admitted with a shy smile. She began dialing. A few seconds later, the Stargate came to life, connected to Earth. I slid the sleeve of my jacket up, punching in the GDO code and giving the technicians time to accept it and open the iris. Teal'c and I went through first, Sam right behind us.  
  
If we'd stayed behind a little longer, I probably would have seen Jack kneel and pick up the wafer at the base of the Stargate. We would've watched him twist it between his thumb and forefinger, then slip it into the pocket of his fatigues and follow us home. 


End file.
